First weekend was a mess

Pick yourself off the ground. Dust yourself off. Move on.

I tend to get bored on the weekends since those tend to be quieter than weekdays (I work 10+ hours a day, so just having a bit of laundry and house cleaning to do on the weekend is quite a change in pace). As a result, I tend to eat a lot more. Here a snack, there an apple and so on. I also tend to go out to the movies with my best friend, and that usually includes a stop at Starbucks and McDonald's. As a result, I concede to myself to eat closer to maintenance on the weekend.

I also make sure to make room in my calorie budget during the week for the things I like: a bit of chocolate for dessert, a croissant for breakfast.

These two things together I then use to make sure I don't binge eat. But I've gotten pretty good at limiting myself to what I can fit in the calorie budget.

I might have to rethink my strategy when I get closer to my ideal weight. But as long as I'm losing weight with maintaining the deficit only on weekdays, I'll keep doing it that way.

I suggest you try to figure out why you "did terrible" on the weekend and work on strategies to counter act that. Are you eating too restrictively so that you just blew a fuse? Are you a boredom eater like myself? Do you have more social gatherings on the weekend where you have lovely things just thrust into your face?

It took me some figuring out how I tick but now that I know where my problems lie I can navigate them more easily.

And last but not least, losing weight is a long term affair. I had to learn that those extra 40kg I have to lose didn't happen overnight, ergo they're not going to disappear overnight. So having one not so good weekend is not the end of it all.

Best of luck!

feisty_bucket wrote: »

bigtons27 wrote:

I don't know if I can.

You definitely can, you just messed up once. Try your best next time. And the next. Etc.

It might help if you try not to make a big distinction in your head between the "regular" week and weekends. A day is a day.

I second this! For a long time, I thought of the weekend as the time to 'treat' myself. Once you get over that, it gets much easier.

Yep. It's just another day and you have to be dedicated to doing this. I do allow myself one meal a week where I can blow it but even that has been somewhat restrained lately as my calorie deficit target is getting very small.

I create a deficit during the week so I can have more freedom on the weekend.

binabodu wrote: »

I create a deficit during the week so I can have more freedom on the weekend.

I do the same. I usually try to under eat during the week by a couple hundred calories or so each day...on the weekends I eat all my calories and often more, but I still end up under my weekly calorie goal. I try to look at weeks as a whole instead of days in general. Giving up alcohol during the week alone gives me these calories...I love a glass of wine to end my day, but I love more feeling less restricted on the weekends and still meeting my goals.

It's also helpful not to set your weekly weight loss goal at the most ambitious 2 lbs setting in MFP...slow and steady wins the race. A few extra calories to play with daily really helps save your sanity which, at least in my experience, means I'm more likely to be successful and not give up.

I purposefully allow myself to eat at or around maintenance on a Saturday by having an 'anything goes' dinner. For me it works psychologically by letting me consider foods I may want during the week as a possible Saturday treat (if there's no way they will fit into my daily cals usually). What happens is that my net cals go (Mon-Sun):
LOW, L, L, L, H, M.

My weight then goes (Mon-Sun):
↔️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬆️

I've been losing an average of 2lbs a week quite steadily.

Not suggesting you do the same (plenty of people find they go off track by doing this) but there are ways of allowing yourself a little slack at the weekend if you find that helps!

I purposefully make my macro goals higher on weekends so I can have more flexibility. As long as my average intake is on point, it doesn't matter if you eat more on certain days. I like to be able to have a big breakfast and dinner out once a week without having to starve the rest of the day, so I made the adjustments necessary based on my preference and lifestyle. I still count/track everything and hit my macros, but they're intentionally higher than they are during the work week.

You don't have to do what I do, of course, but it's an option. You can still lose weight while having a little more food on weekends. That doesn't mean you get to eat whatever you want, but there are options. If you want to eat the same amount every day, you're just going to have to do it. There's no trick or advice people can give you - it's all up to YOU.

I also tend to eat more on the weekends, and some weekends more than others. Log everything and move on. To compensate for eating out (and usually eating more) on the weekends, I keep under my calorie goal during the rest of the week, which I find pretty easy most of the time. This has worked pretty well for me and I've lost steadily.

No one's perfect, you are going to have days that just get away from you. No big deal - get right back on track.

Make sure you aren't restricting too much during the week.
I know some people eat a little lower during the week and a little over on the weekend and make sure the average for the week is at their calorie goal, and that's great if it makes it easier to fit your real life into your plan. But if you restrict too much during the week, and this causes you to go overboard on the weekend, then you need to find the right balance.

It can take some practice to get social situations or relaxation that revolves around food to work for you. Just keep trying and aim to do better each time. Good luck!

I struggle with this too - I've started ensuring at least dinner on Friday is tracked and under goal so at least that's another whole day for the win. I am beginning to work on controlling breakfast and/or lunch Saturday and Sunday too, every little bit counts! Make small changes you can live with - good luck!